How Is All Mankind Guilty Of Sin?
I Was Born This Way
As we further our look into anthropology and study the ways and origin of mankind, we are going to look from a different perspective on the human race than we have in previous weeks. To start this month we discussed how we are made in the image of God and this past week we looked at what our roles are as men and women created by God. This week, however, we are going to look at the ugly side of mankind, and more specifically how we are all guilty of sin. If you have attended church for any amount of time, you know that when the preacher says everyone is guilty of sin, you should just simply respond with ‘amen’. But do you actually agree with that? What would your answer be if I asked you how all of mankind is guilty and deserving of the wrath of God? What about people who have never heard of the gospel? Are they guilty? What about people who don’t consider themselves Christians or even theists? Can someone be guilty of God’s wrath when they don’t even believe He exists?
These are only a few of the multiple questions that exist that surround the idea of everyone on earth being guilty of sin and has fallen short of the glory of God. And while we may believe it because that’s what we were told, do we really understand it? To grasp this idea and concept taught in scripture, we first need to understand the doctrine of Original Sin. The Gospel Coalition defines Original Sin as follows; “Original Sin is a term that defines the nature of mankind’s sinful condition because of Adam’s fall. It teaches that all people are corrupted by Adam’s sin through natural generation, by which—together with Adam’s imputed condemnation—we all enter the world guilty before God.” John MacArthur adds, “The doctrine of sin directly defines mankind as fallen and affects everyone since sin defines every life at birth; corrupts everyone’s relationship with God, with other persons, and with creation; and brings all to death. Sin impacts our entire human constitution and existence, distorting every aspect of our being, body and soul.” So if this is what Christians believe regarding sin, what evidence do we have that this is actually what the Bible teaches? We are going to study two aspects of this.
Inherited Guilt
The first aspect of Original Sin taught in scripture is what Wayne Grudem calls ‘Inherited Guilt’. Inherited Guilt is the idea that we are counted guilty because of Adam’s sin. This is seen in its clearest form from Paul in Romans 5:12-14 “12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not counted against anyone when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” Paul clearly states that we are guilty because Adam was a representation of all of mankind and through him, all sin entered the world, making every human being born into a sinful nature. This is further explained as Paul continues in Romans 5:18-19 “18 So then, as through one offense the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
Now immediately, you may be saying to yourself, ‘This isn’t fair! If Adam is the one who sinned, he should be the one punished not me!’ To that, I simply want to ask you, even if you did not eat the fruit in the garden of Eden, how long would it take you to eventually sin? A day? A couple of hours? 5 minutes? The fact that each of us has a sinful nature proves this text to be correct. We are all guilty of sin because we are all sinful and fallen at heart. It would probably be a matter of seconds for us to sin in the garden with an unclean thought, harmful language, or disobedient act. If you still feel as if this is unfair, perhaps Dr. Grudem may be able to convince you. He notes, “If we think it is unfair for us to be represented by Adam, then we should also think it is unfair for us to be represented by Christ and to have his righteousness imputed to us.” Unless we believe we can live a perfect life without sin, I think we’re all okay with being guilty of sin if that means we can all be saved by Christ’s righteousness.
Inherited Corruption
The second biblical reason we have for all being guilty of sin is what Dr. Grudem calls ‘Inherited Corruption’. This idea states that we have a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin. Not only are we sinners because he sinned, but our very nature is sinful because of it. David confirms this in Psalm 51:5 “5 Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Paul also confirms this idea of inherited corruption in Ephesians 2:3 “3…we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest.” This is also why Paul later teaches in Ephesians 6:4 “4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Why would we have to raise our children in discipline and instruction of the Lord if following Him was always our heart’s desire? Because it’s not. Our fleshly, human, fallen nature has always desired what we want over what our Lord wants, even when we know it is wrong. This is also verified by Paul in Romans 7:15 “15 For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.” I don’t know if there’s anyone on earth who can’t relate to Paul here. This very concept that takes place in everyone shows us just how alive this Original Sin is in every human being. The entire goal of understanding Original Sin is not to make you feel more guilty than you did before you read this post, but rather, to fill you with humility and the realization of your need for a savior. All of mankind is guilty of sin because all of mankind is born into a sinful nature. However, while the idea of one man bringing sin into all of mankind seems completely unfair to the human race, so is the concept that all sin of mankind can be atoned for because of the sacrifice of one man. Yet both are true. May we not meditate this day on how inescapable our sin is in our own strength, but rather how our sin that we have been born into can be washed away because of the gospel.
Sources
[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.
[2] Grudem, W. (1994). Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA79455700
[3] MacArthur, John & Mayhue, Richard. A Systemic Summary of Bible Truth: Biblical Doctrine. Wheaton, Crossway, 2017
[4] Phillips, R. (2021, February 10). Original sin. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/original-sin/
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